Knoxville DIY expert Sandra Powell encourages other women to build

Jennifer Lawrence Photography/Special to the News Sentinel
“Don’t just slap things together. You need to have patience to deal with the hiccups,” says Sandra Powell in her recently completed library.

Ali James/Special to the News Sentinel
Powell, working in her customized workshop at home, has been most surprised by the feeling of empowerment, she and other DIYers feel, “People are often timid and scared to start.”

Jennifer Lawrence/Special to the News Sentinel
Sandra Powell has utilized every bit of space in her luxurious custom walk-in closet.

Powell coached Kristy Kelly in Australia through this small-bedroom remodel, which focused on storage space.

Special to the Knoxville News Sentinel
Powell turned one of her home’s garages into a workshop space and built custom cabinetry, complete with leather pull handles.

Want something done? “Just jump right in,” says Sandra Powell, who moved to Knoxville about two years ago. Over the past 12 years, the busy mom has become a designer, remodeler, carpenter and DIY coach.

She writes about her carpentry projects on her www.sawdustgirl.com blog and was featured in August Better Homes and Gardens’ budget decorating issue. Powell recently flew to Arizona to makeover a homeowner’s laundry room for “She Knows TV”.

She plans and tackles her own remodeling projects by herself and inspires countless other women to do the same.

It wasn’t until she and her husband, Wes, had bounced from a condo in California to a house in Louisiana and a new house in Arizona that she decided to do more than paint walls. That’s when she decided to take an interior design course.

“I didn’t realize it was actually a career,” confesses Powell. At a community college she learned technique, tips and tricks and rules of decorating while her then 3-year-old daughter Madison attended the college’s preschool. “This is it — this is my thing,” she soon realized.

For her final college project, Powell drew up plans to turn her own awkward-shaped bonus room into a multi-functional space; office, media and craft room. After costing out the project, she knew the only way to make her dream room a reality was to build it herself.

She roped her younger brother in, as he had some cabinet making experience. “There were built-ins on all four walls,” says Powell. “It took us two and half days to build just the entertainment wall, and after learning the basics, I did the rest on my own.”

“Doing that first project I learned enough to have confidence,” says Powell. “I haven’t stopped since.” Her family of three moved to Texas a little while later, and she started doing more demolition and reconstruction, tearing out walls and floors and even renting scaffolding for bigger-scale projects.

“I always wanted it different from how it was, and I wanted to do it myself,” she says. “I weigh my options and decide how to get the most bang for my buck.”

Three house moves later she started a blog to document her projects. “I was inspired by project blogs, tutorials and the sense of community they created,” she says. Initially she blogged about her carpentry projects and crafting at “sawdustandpaperscraps.” This year she rebranded her website www.sawdustgirl.com to focus on her popular DIY projects.

“I had a lot of requests on how to do things and people asking if they could hire me,” says Powell of her decision to start consulting.

Now, business is buzzing with five client projects on the go. “I help people with custom built-ins and coach them through the process,” explains Powell. “Anyone can do it, it’s not rocket science. These are everyday people — not contractors, not tradespeople — who are willing to face their fears of power tools, get glue in their hair, learn their way around the big box stores and get dirty.”

First, there is an initial consultation and Pinterest board inspiration. “Then I create plans that are intuitive to follow,” says Powell. Mentoring through Skype, she talks clients through basic techniques for cutting and assembling their project. She provides a materials list and a continuous list of tasks for her clients to work on when they are not connected online.

Powell’s clients live all over the country. However she recently wrapped up a small bedroom project with a client in Australia. Clients send her photos of their progress and completed projects, which she posts online to encourage other women.

Powell is virtually with them every step of the way. She interacts with readers and clients on Facebook, as well as on Twitter, Instagram and Google Plus and together, with three regular website contributors, has created a supportive community.

Powell has also established a separate website for her community of DIY enthusiasts, www.Sawdustdiaries.com. Readers can follow past and current client projects and cheer for the DIYers on their “Sawdust Adventures”. They can also view completed jobs by room, see weekly project updates and submit photos of their own custom work. Soon Powell plans to upload video tutorials and share her favorite tools and how and why she uses them.

Since the family relocated to East Tennessee, Powell has completed her library, daughter’s bedroom, screened porch, workshop built-ins and is putting finishing touches on a luxury walk-in closet and a super organized laundry.

Next up is the gutted powder room and the kitchen. When Powell is finished every room will be touched up or reworked.

“My husband hates the mess and chaos and doesn’t like living through it,” says Powell. “I only ask for help with muscles. I stew over most of my projects for days and even weeks or months before I tell him about it.”

Despite countless moves, and leaving behind a dream craft room in Chicago, Powell remains self-motivated. “This house has the potential to be even better than the last, every time I move it’s an opportunity,” she says. “I have endless ideas, there are endless opportunities.”